I think it's great that you were able to buy your grandmother a house. And I'm going to guess the fact that you were allowed to buy a house for her was at least part of the reason you continued to work, and in turn, boost the US economy. I don't have problem with that, it's capitalism doing its job.

The problem I have is when we have heirs and heiresses of wealthy landowners who will have 10+ investment properties in high demand areas like San Fran or NYC that are able to live off rental income without holding a job. Now, are they boosting the US economy? Sure, they collect rent money and blow it on stupid shit like lambos, bentleys etc..

But they have very little incentive to innovate and directly contribute aside from spending money. Arguably, if those homes were rented at cheaper prices, we may see more people encouraged to stop collecting welfare and go find work so they can buy their own house. Or someone being motivated enough to choose to be a professional instead of a typical assistant manager at McDonald's for the rest of their life.

Again, this is all arguable. I'm just saying in my opinion, there's more innovation hindered by the laziness of those at the top than those at the bottom.

Who are you...to tell anyone...that its their duty to boost the economy and innovate?

Is it best for the public good? Yes. But its in no way any mans responsibility to feed into it more than to provide for his family. If a man earns enough so his children dont need to do as he did....mission accomplished.

My great grandmothers father was a slave, she never finished middle school, her daughter didnt get het HS diploma till she went back to school in her 30s to become a teacher, my mom was the first who didnt work on a farm after HS, and she raised me hoping id take the next step.

I grew up broke as hell. I knew how to rig a power meter to turn it back on till my mom got paid on friday...by age 12. Ive had water turned off so I had to collect rain water to flush a toilet, not had a car in the family for years at a time, and worked cleaning up gotdamn bricks at construction sites in the summer as a kid to buy my little brothers and cousins birthday gifts and such.

If you want me to be ashamed I worked my way out on nothing but ambition and hard work...so hopefully my own kids will never deal with what I did....sorry...not happening.

I hope they get the kind of rich I doubt I ever will....and maybe in 2 generations they will be the land owners making people who have no idea what it took to get there mad because their grandfather went hard so they dont have to.

I hope they have the kind of life that allows them to wake at 11, go swimming till 4, party all night, and wake up richer than they started just off the interest.

And im not ashamed of it.

You have kids? Just wondering....because its hard to look at a baby you are responsible for and not want to give it the world. I dont think you would have such an issue with passing on wealth in any form if you had someone to pass it on to.

Who are you...to tell anyone...that its their duty to boost the economy and innovate?

Is it best for the public good? Yes. But its in no way any mans responsibility to feed into it more than to provide for his family. If a man earns enough so his children dont need to do as he did....mission accomplished.

My great grandmothers father was a slave, she never finished middle school, her daughter didnt get het HS diploma till she went back to school in her 30s to become a teacher, my mom was the first who didnt work on a farm after HS, and she raised me hoping id take the next step.

I grew up broke as hell. I knew how to rig a power meter to turn it back on till my mom got paid on friday...by age 12. Ive had water turned off so I had to collect rain water to flush a toilet, not had a car in the family for years at a time, and worked cleaning up gotdamn bricks at construction sites in the summer as a kid to buy my little brothers and cousins birthday gifts and such.

If you want me to be ashamed I worked my way out on nothing but ambition and hard work...so hopefully my own kids will never deal with what I did....sorry...not happening.

I hope they get the kind of rich I doubt I ever will....and maybe in 2 generations they will be the land owners making people who have no idea what it took to get there mad because their grandfather went hard so they dont have to.

I hope they have the kind of life that allows them to wake at 11, go swimming till 4, party all night, and wake up richer than they started just off the interest.

And im not ashamed of it.

You have kids? Just wondering....because its hard to look at a baby you are responsible for and not want to give it the world. I dont think you would have such an issue with passing on wealth in any form if you had someone to pass it on to.

Who are you...to tell anyone...that its their duty to boost the economy and innovate?

Who is the law, or the public policy, to incentivize people to behave in certain ways? It's (ideally) the voice of the people. Why does the (US) law forbid prostitution? It's an act among two consenting adults, right? How about banning weed? Prohibition, or a step back, why was the legal drinking age raised to 21? We're all just bullshittin what we think is "BEST" for society. And if enough people follow our opinion, then those ideals are implemented.

You don't HAVE to agree with my ideals. But the "duty to boost the economy and innovate" is similar to "duty to serve your country when called upon" imo.

Quote:

Is it best for the public good? Yes. But its in no way any mans responsibility to feed into it more than to provide for his family. If a man earns enough so his children dont need to do as he did....mission accomplished.

Using your own question against you, who are you to decide that if a man has earned enough in his lifetime so that his children never have to work, then his mission is accomplished? I don't necessarily fully disagree, but it sounds like we're both exercising the same right here.

Quote:

If you want me to be ashamed I worked my way out on nothing but ambition and hard work...so hopefully my own kids will never deal with what I did....sorry...not happening.

I hope they get the kind of rich I doubt I ever will....and maybe in 2 generations they will be the land owners making people who have no idea what it took to get there mad because their grandfather went hard so they dont have to.

I hope they have the kind of life that allows them to wake at 11, go swimming till 4, party all night, and wake up richer than they started just off the interest.

And im not ashamed of it.

I don't want you to be ashamed of doing something you think is in the best interest of your kids. But I can't get behind that idea of letting one or two generations' hard work be the boarding pass for subsequent generations of laziness and irresponsibility.

I've seen too much stupidity from people born into rich families to delude myself into thinking their own comfort and security is somehow a society net positive for how much harder everyone else lower on totem pole has to work for to get in the same position.

From your post it sounds like you have a "My kids and family against the world" mentality. So I doubt you'd be too concerned with how society, or the culture humankind as a whole is moving towards. But imo at this point in society, the global economy is trending more and more towards a 0 sum game. People from china and india are gobbling up US middle class jobs. How many decades did you think the US was going to maintain it's average $15/hr pay when kids from other countries are educationally running circles around us and only getting paid <$1/hr? Those opportunities are coming up/have already come up for them and if we don't take some sort of power from the US elite right now we're going to see the middle class collapse worse Glen Davis after an elbow to the head.

Quote:

You have kids? Just wondering....because its hard to look at a baby you are responsible for and not want to give it the world. I dont think you would have such an issue with passing on wealth in any form if you had someone to pass it on to.

I don't have kids, but one day hope to. You're right in the sense that I don't know what it feels like to hold a kid in my arms and not want to give it the world. But I do know how I was raised, and I do know how my parents were raised. In both cases, kids didn't grow up with money and worked hard to put themselves through school with no financial help from the family.

My mother immigrated here with other family members and less than $1,000 in her bank account. But what did receive from her parents was a hard-working attitude, and I suppose somewhat intelligent genes. Fast forward 25 years later she's earned her Masters and working in a molecular lab at an Ivy-League School affiliated hospital, pulling $100K+ annually.

Perhaps it's a difference in cultures, but I can tell you right now had I dropped out of college or high school and just chilled at my Mom's house, using her money to party and play... not a single family member wouldn't be ashamed of me.

I recognize it's because of her hard work that I'm able to work hard and get to a higher place in society right now as opposed to simply me working hard without building upon a prior generations hard work. But for me, the hard work should never stop. I hope my future kids attain a level of education I can only dream of having, but I would be ashamed of my kids being lazy free-loaders in the same way I would be ashamed if my kids were criminals.

And to answer your question about passing on wealth, it would depend on the situation. Kids are criminals, or lazy and entitled? No, they're not getting any money and most likely I would have failed as a parent. Kids are on the right track, graduated college/post grad with good career? Yeah I'll break them off a little something for security.

Maybe it's because I'm not yet a father, or maybe it's because we're just different people, but I wouldn't give all of my wealth for a guaranteed lifetime of unearned luxury and comfort when I highly suspect it means at the cost of sacrificing my child's values.

Who are you...to tell anyone...that its their duty to boost the economy and innovate?

Is it best for the public good? Yes. But its in no way any mans responsibility to feed into it more than to provide for his family. If a man earns enough so his children dont need to do as he did....mission accomplished.

My great grandmothers father was a slave, she never finished middle school, her daughter didnt get het HS diploma till she went back to school in her 30s to become a teacher, my mom was the first who didnt work on a farm after HS, and she raised me hoping id take the next step.

I grew up broke as hell. I knew how to rig a power meter to turn it back on till my mom got paid on friday...by age 12. Ive had water turned off so I had to collect rain water to flush a toilet, not had a car in the family for years at a time, and worked cleaning up gotdamn bricks at construction sites in the summer as a kid to buy my little brothers and cousins birthday gifts and such.

If you want me to be ashamed I worked my way out on nothing but ambition and hard work...so hopefully my own kids will never deal with what I did....sorry...not happening.

I hope they get the kind of rich I doubt I ever will....and maybe in 2 generations they will be the land owners making people who have no idea what it took to get there mad because their grandfather went hard so they dont have to.

I hope they have the kind of life that allows them to wake at 11, go swimming till 4, party all night, and wake up richer than they started just off the interest.

And im not ashamed of it.

You have kids? Just wondering....because its hard to look at a baby you are responsible for and not want to give it the world. I dont think you would have such an issue with passing on wealth in any form if you had someone to pass it on to.

Who are you...to tell anyone...that its their duty to boost the economy and innovate?

Is it best for the public good? Yes. But its in no way any mans responsibility to feed into it more than to provide for his family. If a man earns enough so his children dont need to do as he did....mission accomplished.

My great grandmothers father was a slave, she never finished middle school, her daughter didnt get het HS diploma till she went back to school in her 30s to become a teacher, my mom was the first who didnt work on a farm after HS, and she raised me hoping id take the next step.

I grew up broke as hell. I knew how to rig a power meter to turn it back on till my mom got paid on friday...by age 12. Ive had water turned off so I had to collect rain water to flush a toilet, not had a car in the family for years at a time, and worked cleaning up gotdamn bricks at construction sites in the summer as a kid to buy my little brothers and cousins birthday gifts and such.

If you want me to be ashamed I worked my way out on nothing but ambition and hard work...so hopefully my own kids will never deal with what I did....sorry...not happening.

I hope they get the kind of rich I doubt I ever will....and maybe in 2 generations they will be the land owners making people who have no idea what it took to get there mad because their grandfather went hard so they dont have to.

I hope they have the kind of life that allows them to wake at 11, go swimming till 4, party all night, and wake up richer than they started just off the interest.

And im not ashamed of it.

You have kids? Just wondering....because its hard to look at a baby you are responsible for and not want to give it the world. I dont think you would have such an issue with passing on wealth in any form if you had someone to pass it on to.

Who is the law, or the public policy, to incentivize people to behave in certain ways? It's (ideally) the voice of the people. Why does the (US) law forbid prostitution? It's an act among two consenting adults, right? How about banning weed? Prohibition, or a step back, why was the legal drinking age raised to 21? We're all just bullshittin what we think is "BEST" for society. And if enough people follow our opinion, then those ideals are implemented.

You don't HAVE to agree with my ideals. But the "duty to boost the economy and innovate" is similar to "duty to serve your country when called upon" imo.

Using your own question against you, who are you to decide that if a man has earned enough in his lifetime so that his children never have to work, then his mission is accomplished? I don't necessarily fully disagree, but it sounds like we're both exercising the same right here.

I don't want you to be ashamed of doing something you think is in the best interest of your kids. But I can't get behind that idea of letting one or two generations' hard work be the boarding pass for subsequent generations of laziness and irresponsibility.

I've seen too much stupidity from people born into rich families to delude myself into thinking their own comfort and security is somehow a society net positive for how much harder everyone else lower on totem pole has to work for to get in the same position.

From your post it sounds like you have a "My kids and family against the world" mentality. So I doubt you'd be too concerned with how society, or the culture humankind as a whole is moving towards. But imo at this point in society, the global economy is trending more and more towards a 0 sum game. People from china and india are gobbling up US middle class jobs. How many decades did you think the US was going to maintain it's average $15/hr pay when kids from other countries are educationally running circles around us and only getting paid <$1/hr? Those opportunities are coming up/have already come up for them and if we don't take some sort of power from the US elite right now we're going to see the middle class collapse worse Glen Davis after an elbow to the head.

I don't have kids, but one day hope to. You're right in the sense that I don't know what it feels like to hold a kid in my arms and not want to give it the world. But I do know how I was raised, and I do know how my parents were raised. In both cases, kids didn't grow up with money and worked hard to put themselves through school with no financial help from the family.

My mother immigrated here with other family members and less than $1,000 in her bank account. But what did receive from her parents was a hard-working attitude, and I suppose somewhat intelligent genes. Fast forward 25 years later she's earned her Masters and working in a molecular lab at an Ivy-League School affiliated hospital, pulling $100K+ annually.

Perhaps it's a difference in cultures, but I can tell you right now had I dropped out of college or high school and just chilled at my Mom's house, using her money to party and play... not a single family member wouldn't be ashamed of me.

I recognize it's because of her hard work that I'm able to work hard and get to a higher place in society right now as opposed to simply me working hard without building upon a prior generations hard work. But for me, the hard work should never stop. I hope my future kids attain a level of education I can only dream of having, but I would be ashamed of my kids being lazy free-loaders in the same way I would be ashamed if my kids were criminals.

And to answer your question about passing on wealth, it would depend on the situation. Kids are criminals, or lazy and entitled? No, they're not getting any money and most likely I would have failed as a parent. Kids are on the right track, graduated college/post grad with good career? Yeah I'll break them off a little something for security.

Maybe it's because I'm not yet a father, or maybe it's because we're just different people, but I wouldn't give all of my wealth for a guaranteed lifetime of unearned luxury and comfort when I highly suspect it means at the cost of sacrificing my child's values.

- I've seen just as many people born into low or middle class become worthless members of society.....

- in fact through my own experience....most Kids who come from a stable family that have money are generally productive members ( of course I have met spoiled rich kids who are not)

- but point bieng....this statement you made is pointless.

- I think the game of life is a tireless hustle.....the rules will never change....

The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you're hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that!

You copy and pasted three statistics with no context, and didnt post a link.

The hall mark of a NY liberal. You cant articulate principles, so you pick and choose random bites of info without context to create strawmen arguments. Youve clearly been studyig at the feet of KevinNYC.

When Im at a cpu and not on my phone, and once youve posted your link, ill address your three random statistics.

Well i just used google after reading your post, maybe you can do the same, or is your IQ too low for that?

How dumb are you to ask for context for that statistics Random? lol Do you even know what context and random means?